Organizational Rankings 05-06

After placing 29th last year the New York Rangers fall to a league worst 30th this time around.
There's not much sign of life with this team. Mathieu Garon couldn't crack 10 wins last year and no reason to believe he will this season. After this season Craig Anderson could start his own vulcanized rubber company with all the shots he's going to see.
Young David Hale is back with the team. He gathered two hundred and thirty penalty minutes last year and will have to play just as hard to develop into the defenseman he should be. He's not goin to get much help with Aki Berg and Andrew Hutchinson in the top four.
Another area of concern is up front. The lone NHL caliber forward is Kristian Huselius. He will lead the team in scoring for the second straight year if he doesn't demand for a trade out of frustration. Youngsters Jamie Lundmark and Matt Ellison should still be in the minors but will see top minutes this season.
Playing Daniel Paille and Vladslav Evseev will only make this team worse. If there is a positive it is the Ranger have a handful of good draft picks in their system.

This Oiler team is much like the Rangers. They're loaded with young players up front and on D. Clearly in rebuild mode this team is looking three plus years down the road.
Brent Johnson should be a back up on half of the GMHL teams. He's the starter on Edmonton and actually put up a respectable save percentage with a .894 in 04-05. With little depth in goal Johnson and Sebastien Caron will get the bulk of the starts and the bulk of the loses.
Fiesty Barret Jackman will be a twenty five minute player for this team. One of the reasons this team will fail is Jackman isn't ready for those kinds of minutes at such a young age. There's a slight chance he could improve his minus thirty five from last year.
Old Steve Poapst will help mold Jackman and Brian Campbell into top 4 defenseman.
There's little or no offence the Oilers. Martin Rucinsky can't do it all at his age. Steve Ott, Jordan Tootoo and Tie Domi make a good crash and bang line. But they're just support players and won't put up much offence.
Like the Rangers the Oiler have some young players that should be ready for action after some more seasoning.

We're beginning to see a trend here with the bottom three teams. Teams thirty and twenty nine had little if anything on the roster and Dallas is no exception. With the off season departure of Dwayne Roloson, Ron Tugnutt will be counted on for a good fifty plus starts. The old man won't be able to handle it and this team will sink like a stone.
Defensively this team is a little bit better than the previous two. Lyle Odelein and Vitaly Vishnevski will dish out a lot of hits. Aaron Miller is an average defensive defenseman and will see his fair share of off nights. Jeff Jillson is still learning the pro game and will have his ups and downs this season too.
Mike Ricci will be looked upon for guidance on and off the ice by the franchises young players. Although they're still very young Milan Michalek and Jiri Hudler are a big part of this teams future. Both could see top two line minutes and gain experience for the seasons ahead.
The young guys will have room to move with tough guy Jody Shelley taking a regular shift. Darren McCarty and Brad May will also police the ice for the Stars. With a mix of young players and goons on offence the Stars won't be anywhere near the two hundred and thirty four goal plateau they put up last season.

The Panthers inch their way up the standings to twenty seven from twenty eight. With a boat load of young talent Florida should make an even bigger leap next year. For now the team will have to suffer through another dreadful season.
04-05 point leader Alyn McCauley is back. Fresh face Eric Staal will provide some rookie mistakes and offence for the Cats. Beside those two there isn't much scoring throughout the front lines.
Hard hitting Bob Boughner leads this thin defence. Aaron Ward doesn't bring much at his age except the occasional win along the boards. Unexperienced Mike Komisarek and Doug Lynch will team up as the third pair. A third pair that like Staal, will make plenty of rookie mistakes.
Veteran Felix Potvin is back for his second season with the club. Under the circumstances he had a solid 04-05 year with the team posting sixteen wins. He should match or maybe even beat that number by a win or two this year. Byron Dafoe is still clinging to his backup job. It shouldn't be long before the Panthers bring in one of their young goalies to fill his spot.
This looks like one of the last years for Florida as a bottom feeder.

Winning the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes will be the only bright spot for this team in 05-06. Management didn't do much to improve this team during the off season. Although there wasn't much reason to as the team is building up a winner.
The Senators actually have a decent goalie tandem in Manny Legace and Johan Hedberg. They should do their job but it's unlikely the rest of the team will do theirs. Aleksey Morozov and Rob Niedermayer were one, two in team scoring in 04-05, look for that trend to continue.
Rugged Wayne Primeau and intense Ian Laperriere will rack up the penalty minutes and hits this year. Neither are reliable scorers and the teams goal total will reflect that.
Half crazy Darius Kasparaitis will do whatever it takes to win. He put up a huge hit toal in 04-05 with an astonishing three hundred and seven. Brooks Orpik fits into the teams plan and should see second pairing minutes. Dmitry Yushkevich and Curtis Leschyshyn offer leadership and experience to the kids.

The Ducks find themselves in the same twenty fifth spot they were in last year. With pretty much the same team management didn't do much to improve it's roster.
Back is Hart Trophy winner Daniel Briere. His ninety two points in 04-05 is a club record. His linemates are back. Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Malone will battle along the boards on the first line.
The offence gets fairly thin after that with Jan Hrdina being shipped out of town. Henrik Sedin has a nice passing touch. Sedin, Brian Gionta and Andy McDonald round out the scoring. The Ducks defence is below average but not terrible. Chris Phillips and Sami Salo make a decent second pair but they will see top line minutes on this team.
Stay at homer Jiri Fischer and speedy Joe Corvo round out the top four. Martin Biron is back in the Ducks net as is Pasi Nurminen. Both were shakey last season and will have to up their games for the Ducks to have a shot at the playoffs. The future is bright with a certain russian suiting up next year.

It's no coincidence that the Thrashers haven't moved up. Getting a thirty minute a night defender in Scott Niedermayer really helps. But the Thrashers have very poor goaltending and that should cost them a playoff spot for the second straight year. Mika Noronen shouldn't be counted on to play fifty five games. He should see that and more. Noronen's backup Fred Brathwaite should be in the minors.
As mentioned before the Thrashers landed Scott Niedermayer in an offseason deal. He could challenge for the Norris trophy. Fourty point man Brian Rafalski is back as is three hundred and nine penalty man Sean O'Donnell. Keith Carney adds some experience from the back end but shouldn't be given more than fifteen minutes a game.
The organizations all time point leader Vincent Lecavalier is back for another tour of duty. He's the heart and soul of this team. Mariusz Czerkawski's numbers should reflect Lecavalier's passes.
Tyler Arnason will be setting up Ales Hemsky and Dave Scatchard. Hemsky is young so expect modest numbers. Scatchard loves to hit and will collect his fair share on penalty minutes.

The Canucks have made the playoffs the last two years. Speculation is they like the underdog tag. Like the previous two teams, Vancouver has about the same roster they left off with from last season. Ryan Smyth and Jose Theodore the teams two franchise players are back for a third year. Theodore tailed off a little last year but look for him to find his year one form.
Surprisingly Ryan smyth had fifty eight assists in 04-05. The team would like to see him bury more of his chances. Mike Ribeiro looks to lead the team in helpers this year. Those two could form a dangerous line if they had an every day right winger to play with. Vladimir Orszagh is a good checking line player but isn't fit for the first line. John Madden could have a Selke year in him and Josef Vasicek could hit sixty points centering the 2nd line.
One of the weaknesses for the Canucks is their defence. Punishing Willie Mitchell will see even strength and penalty kill time. An older Eric Weinrich will get top four minutes. It remains to be seen if he can handle those.
An inexperienced Paul Martin has a great shot to lead the Canucks defence in points.

The Coyotes move up one from twenty three last year. They brought in a new goalie. Rick DiPietro is a player ready to take his game to star level. The Dogs will have a chance to win in every game he starts.
Saku Koivu is back and looking for another eighty point campaign. Swift Skating Dany Heatley is back and wants to improve on his disappointing sixty seven points from 04-05. Olli Jokinen will be good for seventy points and a truck load of penalty minutes.
A pair of older players make their return. Geoff Sanderson and Teemu Selanne are back and will fill a support role. It might be hard for Sean Hill to put up similar numbers. One hundred penalty minutes is achievable but forty points might not be. Joni Pitkanen had a solid first season. He'll aim for an even better one this time around.
Patrice Brisebois brings experience, defensive play and a touch of scoring. Phoenix will heavily relay on those three because the blueline thins out after that.

The Islanders check in at twenty one. They have a solid but unspectacular team. Dwayne Roloson is the teams starter. He's gettin up there in age but can still stop a puck. Vesa Toskala is a good second option and will play when Roloson needs a rest.
Marc-Andre Bergeron had a fine rookie season in GMHL scoring forty two points. Look for him to repeat those numbers as he will get lots of power play time. Drake Berehowsky, Toni Lydman and Karel Rachunek are all reliable players. Roloson should be happy with the defenseman in front of him.
Ageing star Mike Modano is the teams leader up front. He came over from Dallas in the off season. He could center Shawn Horcoff and Tony Amonte. Eric Lindros will have to stay healthy. He could be paired with Matthew Barnaby. Barnaby will make sure other players don't take liberties with the Big E.
Slava Kozlov also came over in an off season move. He's an offensive player who should be good for sixty points. Patrice Bergeron played over his head last year netting almost sixty points. He should come down to earth but is still a responsible player.

Superstar Roberto Luongo is back for his third straight season with the Flames. If the Flames are to finish better than second last in the West, Luongo will have to do better than his .903 save percentage from last year.
He'll have the same defense as he did in 04-05. Derek Morris, Kyle McLaren and Scott Hannan will punish on coming forwards. All three are also capable of putting up points too.
Rhett Warrener doesn't care if you're a forth liner, second liner or star player. He's going to make you pay the price to get to the front of the net. Mark Recchi won't have to be a one man Recchi crew as the Flames MVP is back.
Brad Richards had sixty six assists in 04-05. Richards and Mark Bell will drive up each others stats in 05-06. They won't be the teams only out put for offence. Brenden Morrow, and Todd White will be two thirds of their second line. Chris Gratton is a good third liner on most clubs. The Flames have the fire power to put up an above average amount of goals.

The Penguins have a good team. They're solid in net and up front. They'll be hungry having missed the playoffs by two points in 04-05. Robert Esche will be a strength in net. He should be able to play better then the .500 hockey he played last season. Jamie McLennan should see a decent amount of starts when Esche can't go.
Together Dick Tarnstrom and Kim Johnsson make a star first pair on defence. Either one could make the allstar team this year. Jason Woolley will see lots of time of the penalty kill. Don't be suprised if hard hitting Fin Ossi Vaananen causes a few injuries this season.
Tough guy Owen Nolan can fight and score goals. One hundred and fifty penalty minutes and seventy points is in sight for Owen. The teams top center is Rod Brind'Amour. He's been through a ton of wars and will get the job done.
Michael Nylander can pass the puck and Simon Gagne and Pavel Bure can burry it. Chris Simon will patrol the ice and make sure the offensive players have room to work with.

God only knows if Shawn McEachern can match his eighty points from 04-05. If you were a betting man you would bet against that. But anything is possible. He won't have to shoulder the offensive load alone. The Bruins have a handful of players that can put up points.
Alexei Zhamnov is the teams number one center. Zhamnov along with McEachern and Jason Blake form a top line that can skate and score. Nik Antropov is an intense player who will spend some time in the penalty box this year. Eric Daze's health is a bit of a concern. He will be a vital clog to this team when 100%. Martin Gelinas adds a lot of playoff experience from years past.
Chris Osgood had an outstanding year in 04-05. With new back up Brian Boucher, Osgood should get the rest he needs to continue his strong play. Defence is the Bruins only problem.
Brad Lukowich is a great defensive defenseman but shouldn't be a teams number one. Brendan Witt will throw his weight around as will Jason Doig. There won't be much offence from the defense this year. Radoslav Suchy has the inside track to lead the defense in points. This teams time is now as the future isn't so bright.

Like Pittsburgh, Carolina just missed the playoffs last season. The Canes have a lot of experience at forward and these players look to make the three point miss a thing of the past. Steve Yzerman Luc Robitaille are two proud players that want to finish off their careers in the playoffs. Both will do whatever it takes to win.
Alexander Mogilny still has the ability to score. So does Petr Nedved and Radek Bonk. Richard Zednik isn't afraid of the rough stuff and newly acquired Jeff Halpern will chip in some offence of his own.
In net is big german Olaf Kolzig. Kolzig can and will steal games on his own. He'll have to cause Corey Schwab is somewhat of a weak link in net.
Rising star Dmitri Kalinin will see top pair minutes this year. His solid play will be welcomed. Richard Jackman is a power play threat and Cale Hulse will clear the front of the net with his physical play. Glen Wesley can still play defence but should have his minutes cut at this stage of his career.

The Sabres move up two spots. Back is star goalie Curtis Joseph and czech Dominik Hasek. The Sabres have a great pair in those two.
Martin St-Louis will again do it all this year. Play the penalty kill, power play and score at even strength. Pavel Datsyuk should be a thirty goal man this season. Dave Andreychuk was brought in to help young superstar Rick Nash. Nash should again be good for thirty goals and a lot of penalty minutes.
Jason Allison's vision is still with him and Jonathan Cheechoo should benefit. Buffalo is a fairly soft team except for Sean Avery. Who if given the playing time could lead GMHL in penalty minutes.
The back end isn't Buffalo's strong point. Jordan Leopold is still learning the game and probably isn't ready to be a number one. Anders Eriksson scored forty four points in 04-05 and it's a question mark if he'll hit that this year. Ruslan Salei knows his role. It's to play physical and crush the other teams forwards. Fedor Tyutin is still too young and shouldn't see much time this season.

04-05 point leader Zigmund Palffy is back. As is premier puck stopper Evgeni Nabokov. The Sharks are a little thin up front but the goaltending and defense looks solid. Palffy will lead this team in points. Ninty points is not a strech.
Steve Rucchin and Ray Whitney fill out the top line. Look for sixty point years out of those two. Bryan Smolinski is back. Smolinski and Trevor Linden are two very good checking centers.
Bryan Berard will look to hit fifty plus points this year. His passes and shots on the power play will be lethal. Sheldon Souray has a bomb from the point and will look to hammer out points with Berard.
Vladimir Malakhov is a steady defenseman with a solid all around game. Rostislav Klesla is a year or two away from seeing more minutes.
Evgeni Nabokov is a star goalie in GMHL. He won't be over worked with Mike Dunham being handed the odd start.

Nashville added big name Brian Leetch in the off season. He will be a key part of the teams power play this year. Mike Van Ryn will also see power play time. Tomas Kaberle will play on the first power play unit and penalty kill unit. Andrei Markov isn't very physical but he can skate and is a valuable member of the defence.
Scott Gomez is due for a big year. He's expected to put up more than his seventy points he registered in 04-05. Martin Erat is a good player. But he shouldn't have any business leading this team in points if Gomez plays like he can.
Star in the making Jason Spezza will line up on the second line. Spezza and russian Sergei Samsonov had some chemistry last year as both scored over sixty points. Right wing is a little thin. Ales Kotalik rounds out the Spezza line. He's not the greatest offensive player at this point in his career but receiving Spezza's passes Kotalik should pot twenty.
In net is Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Giguere didn't have the greatest 04-05 season. He needs to return to his 03-04 form for the Preds to make the playoffs.

The Wild are a team with very little weaknesses. In goal they sport David Aebischer. Aebischer was lights out in 04-05 and there's no reason why he won't perform that way this season. He'll see sixty five plus starts cause Chris Mason can't be counted on for more than fifteen.
Miroslav Satan and Jason Arnott lead this pack of good but not great forward group. Erik Cole is a good power forward who is willing to drop the gloves, set up a play and finish one of his own. Nikolai Zherdev is a season away from becoming a first line player. He could still put up twenty five goals this season.
Stephen Weiss is in the same boat as Zherdev. You'll get decent numbers out of him this season but nothing over the top just yet. Mike Comrie is a deadly passer who has the speed and skating ability to make defenders miss. The Wild shouldn't have a problem scoring goals.
On defence Pavel Kubina is the anchorman. He has the tools to put up more than the nine goals he scored in 04-05. Janne Niinimaa can be counted on to play the penalty kill and power play. Darryl Sydor and Jaroslav Spacek won't have to be fabulous because both will see second pair minutes. Colin White is still a physical force who can cruch even the biggest of forwards.

Phily is led by two Canadians who are entering their primes. Patrick Marleau and Shane Doan won't be turned away on offence this year. Along with Brett Hull they form one of GMHL's top scoring lines.
The second line of Vaclav Prospal, Marco Sturm and Viktor Kozlov aren't slouches either. Michal Handzus is a top checking center. He'll help keep the other teams top players off the score sheet and he can make a few plays of his own.
Sandis Ozolinsh can skate with the best of them. He won't be great defensively but will make up for it on the power play. Jason Smith is the exact opposite of Ozolinsh. He'll be a stalwart on defence. Emerging young blueliner Robyn Regehr will help Smith pound forwards into the ice. Dan McGillis also likes the rough stuff and Bret Hedican can skate just as well as Ozolinsh.
Tomas Vokoun is on a mission this year. He could be nominated for the Vezina. He had a great year in 04-05 compiling thirty six wins.

Markus Naslund could challenge for both the Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies. After a disappointing 04-05 Naslund will look to rebound. Paul Kariya is also coming off a disappointing year offensively. Kariya should be near seventy points this season.
Chris Drury is the number one pivot for the Devils. Drury will be counted on for his back checking abilities and set up skills. The offence should be real solid when you add big swede Fredrik Modin to the mix.
Martin Brodeur can handle the seventy starts he's goin to get this season. He's the best goalie in GMHL for the third straight year. His job won't be a tough with this group of defenseman watching his back.
Eric Brewer and Steve Staios are two very physical rear guards. Brad Stuart can also play phisical hockey but his game is putting up points and he excels at it. Cory Cross is a big body D who can suficate forwards with his reach. Add in experienced players like Luke Richardson and Jon Klemm and the goals against should be low in the swamp this season.

All of the big guns from last year are back. Glen Murray, Pavol Demitra and Robert Lang return to the team. Demitra and Lang are looking for back to back eighty point seasons.
Jamie Langenbrunner won't wow you with his offensive game but it's his overall game that will get him recognized. Andrew Cassels still brings enough offence to warrant fifteen minutes and Stu Barnes still knows how to check. Andre Roy will see time on the lower lines. He will make his presence felt and energize his team when he gets the chance.
Roman Hamrlik has always been a number one defenseman and this year is no different. He was a little bit of a disappointment last year with a minus twelve but promises to be better this go around. Frantisek Kaberle is solid in his own zone and can chip in on the offensive side. Andrei Zyuzin is similar to Kaberle and will score the odd goal.
Marc Denis had a great year in 04-05. With a year of experience he should be even better in 05-06. Tiny Arturs Irbe might get lit up when he plays. Don't expect more than fifteen starts out of the latvian.

Joe Sakic is eighty points waiting to happen. You can't give him too much space and his shot has to be respected or he'll burn you. Michael Peca is a very good number two center. He's responsible defensively and will make his wingers better.
Todd Bertuzzi is a beast on the wing. His fifty five points in 04-05 were a career worst. Look for him to come back meaner and hungry to score. Always steady Brendan Shanahan is back with the team. He's due to better his point production from last year as well. Rounding out the top two lines are a pair of solid offensive contributors in Shawn Bates and David Vyborny.
Patrick Lalime will orchestrate most of the stops in the nations capitol. The team didn't do anything in the off season to improve it's back up so Ilya Bryzgalov is back. Lalime, like Brodeur could get seventy starts.
To make things a little easier on Lalime is Mattias Ohlund. Ohlund is probably GMHL's best all around defenseman. There's nothing he can't do. Runnig into Denis Gauthier is like running into the grand canyon. He won't let anyone cross the blue line without feeling it first.
An older Eric Desjardins is still with the team. He'll see most of his ice time on the penalty kill and even strength. Karel Pilar is also back but don't expect the same numbers he put up in 04-05.

The Avs have a star player at every position expect center. Milan Hejduk and Patrick Elias will be centered by Alexei Yashin. This is a top 5 line in the league no doubt. It's unlikley Henrik Zetterberg will match his eighty seven points from last year. Zetterberg will play on the second line with Elias in town. Darcy Tucker's crash and bang style is back in the rocky mountains this season. His one hundred and sixty penalty minutes from 04-05 won't be a problem catch.
Nicklas Lidstrom, who could win the GMHL Norris every year is Colorado's number one defenseman. He can log thirty minutes a night with ease. Ed Jovanovski, who is just entering his prime is his partner. Both are elite defenseman.
Andy Sutton and Chris Chelios are a second pair no forward wants to play against. They both like to hammer players and have no remorse doing it. Filip Kuba is a jack of all trades and will do a little bit of everything.
The duo of Miikka Kiprusoff and Roman Turek had a great 04-05 season. Kiprusoff should get the bulk of the starts playing just under sixty games. The teams style of play shouldn't change when Turek enters the net. He'll be just as solid.

The L.A Kings are going to score, score, score and just when you thought they've scored enough they might score some more. Mario Lemieux at his age is still considered a threat. He teams up with his old pal Jaromir Jagr. They chemistry they have they could put up close to two hundred points. Add in Martin Havlat who can score goals and you have a helluva first line.
Todd Marchant is a solid defensive player who will center Nils Ekman and Valeri Bure. With an accomplished defensive player in Marchant, Ekman and Bure are free to wheel and deal. Scott Mellanby still dishes out hits and will put up his share of points on the third line.
Adrian Aucoin is back on defence and he has an absolute laser from he blue line. Adam Foote is getting older but can still flatten forwards who stand in front of his net. Greg de Vries like Foote is getting up there in age but is still reliable in his own end.
Dan Cloutier and Manny Fernandez pair to form one of the better puck stopping duos in GMHL. Cloutier will look to better his thirty three wins from 04-05. Fernandez could push for more playing time if he continues his strog play from last season.

The Jackets are a stacked team everywhere but in net. If Jocelyn Thibault can play like he did in 03-04 the Jackets could win the central. It's going to be either Thibault or John Grahame for the Jackets. They could split the games forty one a piece or someone could emerg as the number one down the road.
Offence and defence won't be a problem the this team. Marc Savard is one of many stars the Jackets posses. Savard with Bill Guerin will be a dynamic combination. Daymond Langkow and Alexei Kovalev might put up as many points as the first line.
The third line of Scott Walker, Alex Daigle and Trent Hunter could be some teams second line. All three have a shot at fifty points.
Russian Sergei Gonchar leads the teams defence. There will be no shortage of points with him back there. Hip checker Bryan McCabe will also put up points. The duo could net one hundred.
Then you facor in Marek Zidlicky who racks up assists effortlessly and stay at home blueliner Marek Malik. The Jackets have quite a list of forwards and defenseman.

04-05 Rocket Richard winner Jarome Iginla is back in Detroit. Another forty six goals is on his stick again this year. Doug Weight is back in town too. His amazing sixty four assists were two shy of the GMHL lead in 04-05. Batman and Robin are aiming for similar results this season.
They won't have to do it alone as Detroit has a pretty good left wing punch in Cory Stillman and Jochen Hecht. Stillman was one point short of eighty and Hecht was five. The hustler Kris Draper will get second line minutes. The D-raper will do exacly that as teams will have to key on Mo-towns other stars.
Kenny Jonsson is a tower on defence. He'll be just shy of a penalty kill god for the Wings this season. John-Michael Liles and Lubomir Visnovsky make an offensive second pair.
Brent Sopel will be an invaluable clog. Sopel will see time short handed, on the penalty kill and of course even strength.
The Wings have a good starter in Kevin Weekes. His stats in 04-05 were average but he still managed to put up thirty seven wins.

The Habs stocked piled offence in the off season. New hired guns include Mats Sundin and Joe Nieuwendyk. They're older but they still know where the offensive zone is.
Daniel Alfredsson who led the team with eighty eight points in 04-05 is back in canada. Fiesty Jeremy Roenick and Bobby Holik line up behind Sundin at center. There's few defenseman that can contain Sami Kapanen's speed. He'll play on the second line.
Kimmo Timonen who was almost a fifty point player last season will see a ton of ice time. He can play in all situations as can Jaroslav Modry.
Russian Alexei Zhitnik loves to hit people. He was third on the team in hits in 04-05. Philippe Boucher is a stay at home defensiveman who can't wai't to dole out the punishment.
The only weak spot Montreal has is in net. Roman Cechmanek is only an average starter. He'll have to play a lot because his back up Pascal Leclaire should still be seeing minor league seasoning.

Tampa Bay is the most experienced team in the league. Keith Tkachuk, Sergei Fedorov and Peter Bondra have seen a wealth of playoff action. If they're set free they could score eigthy points a piece.
Mike York adds some offence from the second line. He can also skate as well as anyone. Jeff Friesen can skate as well or better than York and they'll make a fine pair of wingers on the second line. Brian Rolston is an excellent defensive player and his skills will allow York and Friesen to play more offensive roles.
Rob Blake will be in the GMHL Norris running again this season. He'll sometimes log thirty minutes a night. All Derian Hatcher does it hit people. And hit people hard. He won't score a lot of points but neither will the forwards who play against him.
Ken Klee and Tom Poti make a good but not great 2nd pair. Boris Mironov plays a physical game and Karlis Skrastins plays more of a defensive game. They'll form a very good third pair for the Bolts.
In net is star goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. He had a tough start to last year but rebounded and posted thirty six wins. He won't be over worked with swiss Martin Gerber backing him up.

The raining GMHL Cup champs return stronger than ever jumping one spot to two. Peter Forsberg returns to his team. He has a new linemate in Ladislav Nagy and his old buddy Marian Hossa is back. Forsberg or Hossa could easily win the Art Ross in 05-06.
Brendan Morrison, who finished second on the team in points last year with eighty three is back centering the second line. Justin Williams moves up a line to play with Morrision along with the rugged John Leclair. Keith Primeau who is a load up front centers young Alex Frolov. Frolov is a star in the making in GMHL. Primeau will do most of the dirty work on that line.
The defence is just as strong as the forwards. Not many teams can best a first pair of Wade Redden and Mathieu Schneider. Redden could be nominated for the Norris with his strong play in his own end and the points he will put up. Schneider won't be far behind.
Nick Boynton has a shot at two hundred hits this season. He'll punish anyone who wanders out of their own zone. Paul Mara will be his partner. He's more of an offensive defenseman and will put up more points than Boynton. Mike Rathje is a nice option to have on the 3rd pair. He'll also kill some penalties this season.
Marty Turco could win the Jennings trophy this year. His goals against should be really low. When he needs a rest Martin Prusek can play the odd sixty minutes.

Ilya Kovalchuk can make the puck talk. Proof is his GMHL leading ninty nine points in 04-05. Joe Thornton will be back on the top line this season. Riding shotgun is speedy winger Steve Sullivan. The three will aim for two hundred and fifty plus points.
Assist machine Alex Tanguay has two new wingers this year. Maybe the best skater in the game in Marian Gaborik will be one of Tanguays wingers. Gary Roberts who can hit, fight and score will be the other. Young Tuomo Ruutu will play on the third line this season. He's still a season away before he sees time on the second line.
GMHL's hardest hitter Zdeno Chara makes his return. He will toss around any forward who enters his territory. Chris Pronger has his sights set on a Norris trophy year. He can crunch the other teams forwards and is a great option on the power player.
Sergei Zubov and Dan Boyle will see time on the second pair. Zubov is no stranger to the power play and will play significant minutes there. A young pair of Dan Hamhuis and Jay Bouwmeester round out the defence.
In net is the strongest goaltending duo in the league. Ed Belfour and Andrew Raycroft can both start sixty games if need be. The goaltending battle will be settled early on with the winner seeing most of the starts.